Outlaw
by Toriga-Okami
Summary: AU-America in it's busiest time, is about to be shaken upside down, and muddled about. And Im sure you can guess the culprits for this? Beware, GCSE history making appearences here xD Zerith/Cloti & Yuffentine are here to cripple America's wild wild west!
1. Outlaw I

_**A/N:**_ I know I've been starting a lot of new stories recently, but to be honest, this is something I could really write about, because it's something that really interests me. As you probably guessed, I got the idea for this after writing 'Good cop Bad cop' and I'm also studying the American west in History at the moment so yeah lol xD

**_Summary:_** AU-Its the year 1873, the year before barbed wire is invented, the year before the open plains of america become nothing but a page in a text book, and the Fair-Strife gang is all over it. _All_ over it ;) This is losely based on the history of the west of America.  
The boys are a bit low out of Jobs, but they spot a flier and take it immediately. The task; simple, just round up a couple of cattle rustlers and slap 'em in irons. However, they didn't think really, that if it was going to be _that_ easy, why couldn't someone else do it?  
They get dragged hither and thither by their lady-loves and end up in all the right places at all the right times to see the busiest part of the history of America fly by right under their noses, but it's not all flowers and ruffles, everyone has to get stuck in. Including the ladies ;)

* * *

Outlaw I

"Get these crates moving! We ain't got all day!"

Abilene, the busiest cow town in all the west, was in a furore. It was the day before the long drive was due to arrive, and things had to be prepared. The streets were thick with people rushing from pillar to post to be sure that everything, the trains, the enclosures, the saloons, loading supplies, recruiting new enforcers, everyone was readying the town for the mayhem that was due to ensue tomorrow.

Although it was chaotic, it brought the town money and business, but also trouble. Recently, Abilene had been on the receiving end of the attentions of The Leading Ladies; a band of three women, now wanted for a mixture of crimes, including cattle rustling, bank robbery, and in one case, murder. They'd been chased all across the west, skipping through the clutches of all the greatest lawmen of the time, and now it seems, they'd found their pay in Abilene. The local people could not understand how 3 women could board a train, detach the carriages, unload the cows, and herd them off, before anyone even noticed anything was amiss.

And it was for this reason; the town had decided that the only way to catch them and stop them would be to put them up against some of their own. The town had put up notices offering big reward to anyone who could help them out.

And it was the same, team of rag-tag gunslingers that picked up the notice that could be seen making their way slowly across the land toward the town. They rode on horses, a young blond man and a taller man with what could only be described as a mane, were both riding a big black stallion, and were bickering over who should be in control of the reins. A tall man with long black hair held out of his face with a red bandana was following behind them on a chestnut mare, holding the reins of a third horse, a limping dark grey gelding.

"I should be in control! I'm the one who knows where we're going!"

"No way am I handing the reins over to you, look at what you did to your _own_ horse! And besides, I know where we're going too!"

A pair of glittering blue eyes peered out from under the shock of dark hair, feigning hurt. "You wound me Cloudy-pooes!"

An elegant eyebrow arched, and long fingers tightened round the lines of leather protectively, "Not half as wounded as Angeal I'll bet. And we're here now anyway, no need for you to try and take control. And I thought we'd agreed not to call me that Zacky-kins..."

Zack pouted, giving Cloud a long look before turning his head with a huff to look dramatically in the other direction. Rolling his eyes Cloud looked to the town in the distance, "When did those two say they'd meet us?"

"After the drive is done." Zack huffed, folding his arms and not looking round. "That should be tomorrow."

Cloud nodded. It seemed a bit silly to only arrive after the long drive was finished, as they wouldn't get any rest before they had to see what all this was about. They had none of them had any idea what this was about when they saw the poster for a job advertisement. They hadn't been particularly successful with their work, mainly due to the fact that none of them were very respectable citizens anyway, so when the poster had specified people with a history of bad conduct, they thought their luck was up for once, and hadn't wasted any time in saddling up and racing off.

The town they came to now, the one specified in the advertisement, was heaving with activity. Cloud was forced to get a tighter hold of his horse as the animal jerked at all the action around them, "Shh Fenrir, steady boy..."

Behind him, Zack tutted. "What?" Cloud questioned somewhat irritably.

"Oh nothing," Zack replied non-challently; "I suppose he's always this jumpy then?"

Cloud didn't answer, instead glaring coldly over his shoulder at the man, who was by this point looking into the horizon again. Oh how Cloud wished Zack would go bald, if only for a day, that should put him in his boots. Guiding Fenrir to a tether point, Cloud dismounted, swinging his leg forcefully over the horse's rump, making sure to knock Zack from his perch as he did so. "Oh sorry!" He lied, crouching next to his sprawling friend, "I didn't think you were so jumpy!"

Turning, he made to leave, but came face to face with a pair of disapproving amber eyes and a feeling that almost made him wince. Gawd, why was this guy so scary?! Before anything could be said though, Zack saw a chance, and immediately squeezed out a few huge tears, latching onto the man's cloak and wailing, "Vinnie, Cloudy-pooes was being _horrid_ to poor Zack!"

The amber eyes rolled, and 'Vinnie' bent to untangle Zack's fingers from the end of his cloak. Pulling the other man to his feet, he stood the scowling pair in front of him and folded his arms, "Both of you must stop being childish. It will get you killed."

Cloud hung his head, but as soon as Vinnie's back was turned, the pair of them were back to their usual antics, sticking tongues out, tripping each other up and just generally acting like small boys.

They tethered the horses, then made their way into a saloon, 'The Shera'. It was a noisy place, full of smoke and people gambling, a singer on the stage and really bad pianist playing in the corner. There was what looked like lunch being served up at the bar, and as a result, that was their first stop. The bartender, a loud man with a cigarette poking out of the side of his mouth, greeted them with a narrowed look and three shot glasses full of whiskey. Deciding that neither Cloud nor Zack could be trusted to talk seriously to him, Vincent decided it was best if he spoke to the barman himself.

"We're here because of this," he said, placing the poster, torn off at the corners and crumpled, on the counter. "Could you tell me something about it?"

The man pulled the poster towards himself, taking a drag from his cigarette, and inspected it. "Yes. We sent these to the surrounding towns hoping to pick up a few bastards to help us out." He fixed Vincent a look, "You bums wouldn't be here to help would you?"

Raising an eyebrow, Vincent nodded. The bartender roared with laughter, "Well fuck me and call me mother a donkey! Hey lads-" He called to the rest of the bar, "-These punks think they're here ta help!"

The bar fell silent as every head turned to stare at the cloaked man sitting beside the two squabbling fully grown men. Zack stopped chewing on Cloud's shoulder at the feeling of dozens of pairs of eyes watching them, and sat up straight, looking sheepishly at Cloud, who was mournfully inspecting a new hole in his shirt shoulder.

"You think you guys can take their ladyships on?"

The three turned round to find themselves looking at what would appear to have been an elderly man, holding a cat under his arm. But on further inspection, the man was simply worn out to beyond his years, leaning on a walking stick and smiling warmly at the three men.

Immediately the room came alive, people moving their chairs out of the way, offering to help him to the bar, pulling out his stool, paying for his drink, only moving away when they were sure he was completely settled. After the room had returned to its noise, the man introduced himself. "Reeve Tuesti, sheriff of this here cow town, though you wouldn't know it." He chuckled, "If I was any younger, boy I'd be out there to catch 'em gals myself." He sighed, "But I ain't. Which is why we need young fellas like yourselves."

Vincent nodded and was about to open his mouth to speak when Zack leant over and blurted out, "So what're we catching here? You said 'gals', does that mean we're hunting girls here?"

Ignoring the glare Vincent shot the young man's way, Reeve nodded, "Three young gals, been cattle rustling round here. And I'm not after their heads or anything, but this here's our business, our livelihood, it's the only income we got. I can't leave them running wild stealing our cattle."

Zack nodded, but this time it was Cloud who spoke. "I'm afraid Mr – Tuesti was it? – Tuesti, we don't chase after young girls. We can do nothing to help you."

Vincent and Zack both stared at Cloud in shock, but Reeve appeared unfazed, "Who did you say you were?" He asked, slowly stroking his cat from ear-tip to tail.

"The Fair-Strife gang." Cloud replied, watching the movement of the other man's hand, carefully scratching the cat in all the preferred places.

"We've heard quite a bit about you here; deserted the army, dishonourably dismissed from the Government, born in the backstreets, stealing for a living; you've got quite a name for yourself." He paused, passing his gaze from man to man. "We've also heard that you're not adverse to doing odd jobs, including mining, cattle driving, and the pony express. You can do so very much to help us Mr Strife, especially for $10,000 each."

Their eyes widened at the sum of money mentioned, and Reeves eyes twinkled knowingly, "You've not been very lucky with your work recently have you?"

Cloud shook his head. Despite how much he didn't want to be known as a womanizer, the promised price was a _very_ appealing offer, and it wasn't as if people would lie about them being hero's when they caught these 'gals', right?

"So then," Reeve said, picking the cat up and leaving it on the counter, blissfully ignorant of the death glares being shot his way by the bartender as he watched the paw prints appearing on his pristine surface, "That settles it. I will brief you on the situation, and then I'm sure you'll want to rest up before the mayhem ensues."

The disarming smile that had appeared on the older man's face was hardly confidence giving, but it was relieved, and for that Cloud found they had to be obliging, and at least hear what the man had to say. He led them outside and waited while they retrieved their horses, then led them to a barn, complete with outside enclosure and set of stables.

"You can tend to that horse now if you'd like, the tar is over there." He said, gesturing towards the limping gelding, and then to the corner, where a big pot of tar was sat on a barrel.

"Thanks," Zack beamed, bounding over to the tar and grabbing it before leaping back over to his horse, who was watching him with an apprehensive look in his eye. "Don't worry," Zack said to him, patting him soundly on the rump, "It's only a pot of hot tar. S'not gonna hurt you."

If the horse could have raised its eyebrows in a disbelieving gesture, Cloud was sure it would have done. He turned his attention back to Reeve as the man began talking again. "Once you've settled in your horses, you can return to The Shera, I'll have Cid, the Barkeep set you guys up in some rooms. You can rest there tonight; the ladies shouldn't make a move before the drive gets in."

Nodding his thanks, Cloud glanced over at Vincent, who was already leading his mare to a fresh stable. When he turned back however, Reeve had gone. Shrugging, Cloud tugged on Fenrir's reins, leading the horse to the stable on the other side of the barn, it was never a good idea to put the headstrong stallion next to the wily mare if it could be helped. Vincent would literally kill him if anything happened to his pride and joy.

On the other side of the barn, Vincent was busily untacking his horse, sweeping his hands through her mane, whispering sweet nothings in her furry ears. Anyone would have thought he was in love with the creature, the way he doted on her.

"What do you suppose they'll be like hmm?" He whispered as he smoothed down the fur rubbed up by her girth. "Thieving little imps?"

The mare snorted quietly, dipping her nose into the water bucket by the door as he continued to groom her. "My sweet Lucrecia, I'm not sure quite how, but I'm sure you're the only thing I have left to hang onto."

He kissed her softly on the nose, his lips barely skimming the velveteen fur that covered it. On the other side of the stable, a similar although less smoochy moment was taking place.

"Stop kicking!" Zack complained as he shuffled around after his horse's feet, dabbing now and then with the tar brush. Angeal did not seem too happy about having a hot sticky brush stabbed repeatedly into his already uncomfortable back leg, and was turning round on the spot, much to the dismay of Zack, who was squatting down, attempting to tar his leg.

"Angeal!" The grey stopped skittering around and craned its neck to look at the offending man.

"What?!" Zack demanded, "Do you not want me to look after you or something?"

At the soft huff and swish of a tail, Zack set to work again, prodding the horse indelicately in the back leg with the sticky tar brush.

"That's not how you tar a horse. And besides, it's his hoof you need to tar, not his limb."

Looking up at the voice, Zack found himself staring up into a pair of soft green eyes. And pink, lots and lots of pink. "Huh?"

"His hoof," she pointed.

"Yeah?" Zack said, looking down at the foot she was pointing to.

"That's what you should be tarring."

He frowned up at her, obviously not understanding what she meant. Sighing, the girl let herself into the stall, and hitched her skirt up a bit to crouch beside him and take to tarring brush from his limp fingers, "Here, let me do it." She offered, giggling when he nodded absent-mindedly as he stared at her.

When she had finished – Angeal stood much stiller for her than he ever had for Zack – she introduced herself. "I'm Aerith Gainsborough."

"Zack..." He mumbled, wiping his hands on his chaps so he could shake her proffered hand.

"You got a second name, Zack?"

"Fair!" He said suddenly, reddening as he noticed how he was staring so openly at her, "My name is Fair, Zack Fair."

She smiled, showing all her teeth in an honest, endearing smile that had Zack's heart melting. She must have seen his sappy expression as she laughed, and held out the tar pot. He took it. She smiled again, her shoulders shaking with silent laughter as she excited the stall. "It was a pleasure to meet you Fair Zack Fair."

He nodded, and gulped. She laughed again, and walked away without sparing him even a last glance as she exited round the barn door.

Cloud was watching her go as he walked over, Fenrir's saddle and bridle slung over his arm. He stopped next to his friend, who was still staring after Aerith. "Who was that?" He asked.

Zack shrugged, "Some kind of angel I guess..."

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A/N: So, what did we think for a first chapter? I was going to make this chapter go on for ever and a day, but I thought that would be a nice line to end it on. Did we like the fact they're no longer in Gaia? Are they better in America? Did you pick out the relationship between Vince and Lucrecia? Heh heh heh, I couldn't help but put that in there xD


	2. Outlaw II

**_A/N:_** I had someone request some Tifa, so here is some Tifa xD Please continue to review, you guys brighten my day like no tomorrow :D

P.S. Sorry about the long delay, I've been on hols all last week :)

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Outlaw II

"Where have you been then?"

Aerith smiled at the question, skipping lightly over to perch on a barrel beside the speaker, who was relaxing in a hammock strung between the tent posts, a hat over their face. "Nowhere."

There was a disbelieving exhale of air, and the rim of the hat was lifted, letting the eyes beneath it sweep over her face. "Right. So why are you smiling like a Cheshire cat?"

"I am not!" Aerith flustered indignantly.

The fingers holding the hat released their hold, and disappeared beneath a dark haired head. There were a few moments of awkward silence before Aerith said excitedly, "The Fair-Strife gang is in Abilene!"

The figure in the hammock stiffened visibly, and a poorly-disguised shaky voice said, "You were in Abilene."

"Yes!"

"With the Fair-Strife gang."

"Uhhuh!"

The hat was ripped from its place as the woman beneath it sat bolt upright. "Aerith! You could have been arrested!"

Aerith shrank back from the other woman's fury, standing up from the barrel, her smile vanishing immediately. "Nobody saw me."

"How can you be sure?"

"There was no one around!"

"Aerith, it's the busiest day of the year beside tomorrow! Of _course_ there were people around!"

Aerith stamped her heel down in the dirt on the floor of the tent. "Dammit Tifa! I can take care of myself! I'm not an idiot! I know what I was doing!"

Tifa raised an eyebrow scornfully. "Oh you can, can you? Is that why you're here with us? Stealing cattle, robbing banks, shooting our way out of God knows how much trouble!" Her voice had risen to a shout now and she tossed her head angrily. "This is not taking care of ourselves! This is going to get us killed! We have no choice! And you are _careless_ Aerith, _careless_!"

"I took more care than you! Village burnt down because you let the army into your home, pshh! If I was as _careful_ as you, I wouldn't be standing here, having to take all this shtick from your insecure obsession! If it wasn't for me-"

"Wasn't for you?!"

"Yes. If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't even know you had to be careful now! You wouldn't even _know_ they were here to catch you Tifa! Put your head on a pike and parade it round the plains for every Indian and white man to see and learn from! And this is the thanks I get!?"

The two girls were panting when Yuffie came in, freezing in the entrance of the tent, a dagger in her hands. Her plum-brown eyes shifting between the two scowling 'friends'. "What have I missed?" She asked, her slight accent tinged with anxiety.

"Nothing," Tifa said, her eyes never leaving Aerith's, "Aerith was just leaving."

Aerith's expression darkened, but she turned and stalked out past Yuffie anyway. Yuffie watched her go, a sigh escaping her lips. "Tifa," She addressed the woman who was still standing, hands clenched at her sides, beside the hammock, "She isn't made for this life. You shouldn't be so tough on her."

"I know," Tifa sighed, flopping back down into the hammock, "I just, don't like her going off on her own because I'm worried she might get hurt. And thinking about it just..."

"I know," Yuffie said, turning the blade over in her hands, "It makes you angry doesn't it." Tifa nodded. "But you shouldn't take that anger out on her. She knows what she's doing Tifa, and you should have more faith in her. As your people say, 'turn the other cheek', ignore it."

Tifa nodded, pulling her hat back over her eyes once more. Yuffie raised an eyebrow, "Are you going to say you're sorry?"

"Let me calm down first..."

Aerith sniffled, digging the toe of her boot into the sandy earth and kicking the sod far. She was never allowed to go anywhere, Tifa was always holding her back, but as any good teacher knew, there were things your superiors did to protect you. Aerith wiped a hand across under her nose. Not a nice thing to do she knew, but they were only tears, there wasn't any snot or anything. She wrinkled her nose at the thought. She hoped her eyes wouldn't end up all red and puffy.

Her eyes _always_ ended up red and puffy, it was virtually the only thing about herself that she didn't like. But she supposed they wouldn't be so puffy all the time if Tifa didn't make her cry. She kicked the ground particularly hard at the thought, but then she dropped to the floor, clutching the toe of her boot and wincing. _Pathetic, no wonder Tifa always gets angry at you, you can't even fight off some soil without hurting yourself!_

Fresh tears were spilling down her face, and she scrubbed angrily at them. Great, now she was going to have scratches down her face. How would she ever look that man in the face again now?

She let herself fall to the ground and stretched out on the hot earth, wiping the tears away a little gentler this time. That man was so different from what she had expected. She'd thought the Fair-Strife gang would be all cold stares, cold shoulders... Cold noses. But he was cheery, and so adorable in the fact that he obviously hadn't tarred a horse before, and was squatting down, shuffling around after it's feet, prodding it in the leg with the brush.

She laughed a little at the memory. Such an odd man. And he hadn't minded at all when she'd offered to help him, even seemed grateful for the assistance. He wasn't that hard on the eyes either, although if Tifa got her say in the matter, he would be 'too old for her', or some of that mumbo-jumbo. She wouldn't even be allowed to watch him from a distance if Tifa found out. And Tifa _always_ found out about _everything_.

Aerith sighed, tilting her head to look back at the tent. No doubt Yuffie was in there attempting to pacify her. The sun was going down now, casting orange and purple streaks across the clouds, painting the plains gold and dusk. It was going to get a little chillier tonight, it was probably time for her to go back inside the tent, but if she was honest, she would rather wait until Tifa apologised to her first.

Zack yawned, flopping down on the cot and mumbling into the pillow. God it felt good to have a proper bed for once, and not sleep on the ground, or against a tree someplace. His back felt awful at the minute, but a good night's sleep would sort that out no problem - he hoped.

On one side of him, Vincent was sat on his own cot, busily pulling off his boots and gloves, his cloak already slung across the only chair in the room, claiming it as his. And on Zack's other side, Cloud had assumed much the same position as he; face down, bottom up.

The blond was flapping his arms and wafting his legs about. Apparently he was also grateful for the beds. "Cloud," Zack mumbled, gaining a grunt in answer, "My bed creaks, can we swap?"

There came a muffled reply that sounded an awful lot like 'Fuck off!'. But Zack was not to be put off. "Please Cloud?" He persisted, "I need to look my best tomorrow!"

Cloud lifted his head and gave him a suspicious look, "Why?"

"Because we're gonna meet those ladies tomorrow aren't we!"

Cloud raised an eyebrow and let his face drop back into the dent in the pillow. But Zack was still fantasizing. "Come on Cloud! You know something'll happen! Three dashing lads, chasing some girls across the desert, not because they want to but because they're being paid to. But then, the lads begin to fall for the girls and the girls fall madly in love with the boys and-"

By this point, Cloud had lifted his head to watch Zack, and even Vincent had settled down to watch the half-arsed acting. "-and then they catch them, and enjoy nights of passion! And then they must run from the law because they don't want to give each other up and-!"

"You want to be even more of a fugitive?" Cloud interrupted him. "Deserting the army wasn't good enough for you, now you want to run away on some forbidden romance?"

Zack pouted, "So? What's wrong with that?"

Cloud sighed, shaking his head, "Zack, you're _so _cliché, it's _embarrassing_ to be seen with you."

Zack stuck his tongue out and rolled over to face Vincent, who had his eyebrows raised in an almost amused expression. "What?!" Zack demanded, but Vincent simply shrugged, before turning down the lamp, and pulling the blanket over himself.

The next morning, the three men got a wake-up call they didn't fully appreciate. The place was a clammering shouting mess, people running this way and that, shouting orders at each other and generally being loud and demanding. The men didn't know where to put themselves, so they simply stood on the porch for a while and watched until Reeve came to get them.

"The drive should be here any minute," He said, fiddling with his cat's ear, "but it'll take us some hours to load the cattle, we'll discuss your positions for then shall we?"

They looked at each other, and shrugged, allowing Reeve to lead them through the bustling, busy town, to the sheriff's office, where he sat them down, and poured out tea. "I've never really liked whiskey," He explained, "And there's nothing like a good cup of tea in the morning."

Vincent nodded, and seemed to take great pleasure in the cup of light brown liquid, caressing the side of the cup with his finger tips lovingly, before taking a sip, and humming appreciatively. Zack and Cloud exchanged glances, before copying his example. Both men got as far as humming, before Zack rumpled his nose, swallowing even as Cloud began looking for a suitable place to spit it. It was at Vincent's glare that he was forced to endure the meeting with a mouthful of something he really didn't like.

"Now then," Reeve said, setting his own cup down, and settling back in his chair, stroking his cat. "These girls, always use the same method. It varies slightly from place to place, time to time, but it's all under the same rules. They uncouple the train compartments, and unload the cattle, driving them away. We've tried to have people on the trains, in the compartments, but they just get duped, tied up and left there without any clothes on."

Three pairs of eyebrows arched at this comment, but Reeve wasn't finished. "It's not easy to predict when they'll attack the train, but it's always a good way from here, and no one really realises it's happening until it's happened. If you know what I mean?"

Vincent nodded, "Does the driver alert the train?"

Reeve nodded, taking a sip of his tea and dropping his cat on the floor for it to scurry off outside. "Yes, he says that the only signal he really gets that something is wrong is when the train begins to move faster."

"Loss of weight." Vincent concluded, sipping his tea.

"Mhmm. What we need to do, is to know exactly when the speed changes, so you boys can catch them in the act!"

"But you said that the attacks change time every time." Zack pointed out, sitting forward in his chair, "What we really need to do is know just _before_ the speed changes, so we can stop them _before _they act."

Reeve sighed, "And how do you propose you do that?"

Zack gestured to Cloud, "We have the horse power to do it. Cloud and Fenrir could follow along behind the train, and when they see anything looking like ladies coming along, they give a little whistle and we all know they're here."

Cloud nodded, the tea sloshing around in his mouth, but he still didn't want to swallow. Vincent turned to Zack. "And where will we be in your master plan?"

"In the train of course." Zack said, rolling his eyes as though this fact was obvious and Vincent really should have guessed. "We'll be in one of the compartments."

"The train doesn't have any compartments," Reeve cut in, "It's a good's train, not a people service."

"Then we'll sit in with the cows." Zack carried on cheerily, "I don't mind sitting in with some cows, do you Vinnie?"

The man shook his head. "There you are then," Zack smiled proudly, "Plan down."

Reeve looked a bit puzzled, "But how are you going to know that Cloud's seen them? A whistle isn't going to be heard over the noise of the train."

"He has a gun." Vincent put bluntly. Cloud nodded, producing the gun from his halter and spinning it round his fingers expertly, before slotting it back into it's respected position in the belt at his waist. Zack mumbled something which sounded like 'show off', and gained a dirty look in return.

Reeve sat back in his chair, a disbelieving look on his face, "You boys really think you can do this?" They nodded and he sighed, stroking down his moustache in a thoughtful manner. "Well, I guess, if you know when they're coming, and you can communicate to each other, all you have to work out now is how you're going to get out of the compartments without letting all the cows out, or even how you're going to stop the ladies when they come."

The three men exchanged glances, then one by one they shrugged. They were more suited to free-styling it anyway, and besides, the plan was only a rough one, nothing was precise. And as far as they were concerned, it didn't have to be. Vincent stood up first, and wiped his hands on his trousers before reaching out to shake Reeve's hand. "Just leave it to us."

Reeve nodded, and shook all their hands, smiling to himself as they left. These youngsters were going to have another thing coming if they thought this was going to be easy, but they seemed sincere enough. He just wondered how Miss Lockheart would take to the 'fresh meat'.

As soon as Cloud got outside, he was choking and spluttering over the tea, and had to lean against the recently shut door as he coughed. Zack watched him with a sympathetic face, and patted him on the shoulder when he was recovered enough to stand. "I didn't like the tea either mate..." He sighed.

Vincent stretched, they were going to have a long day ahead of them, and by the sounds of it, the drive was already here. He could hear the sound of thousands of cattle stomping their hooves and bellowing to each other. He rubbed the back of his head. He hoped Lucrecia was feeling alright today, it wouldn't do any good if he was to run her around chasing after petty criminals if she wasn't feeling her best. He glanced over his shoulder at the two men who were playfully trying to stand on each other's feet, maybe they were right, that he was a slave to his horse. But she'd been with him for so long, and was really the only thing he had left of his days in the government, that he couldn't bear the thought of her being in distress or hurt at all. Speaking of which, it was probably time they started preparing the horses, and inspecting the compartments. Even if they had basically told Reeve they would wing it, it would be a smart idea to get a firmer outline of what they were going to be doing wouldn't it.

"Oiy, you two bone heads," He addressed the pair behind him, who had toppled to the ground and were now wrestling in the dirt, "I think we should go find out how these link mechanisms work. Come with me."

They stood up as he began to walk off, still pushing and pulling each other as they walked, ignoring the odd looks they were gaining from people around them.

The linking on the train it turned out was as Vincent had expected. The outdated and unsafe iron pin method. It was no wonder the girls found it so easy to simply uncouple the carriages and make off with the livestock. He tested it with his finger. Yup, rusty too. You'd think if the town was so worried about their cattle, they would take better care of their trains too. But apparently not.

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**_A/N:_** I know it cuts off here, but I have a little more I've written, that I'm gonna be putting up in a .5 installment. I've had an entire week to write things up when I've not been skiing, so I I hope you enjoy them all :D

Did you notice the the double 'I'? Bet you didn't notice the the double 'the's either xD


	3. Outlaw II point 5

**_A/N:_** This is as a half chapter because I need a ful chapter for the train 'bit' as that (yup, you guessed it) is coming next chapter. Which I should be able to post by tonight if I try ;] Here's hoping you enjoy it, review it if you like it. and idea's for ways they could 'interact' (;]) would also be appreciated! Thank you and goodnight xD

* * *

Outlaw II.5

"Oh my, little boys are here to catch us!" Yuffie squealed, Tifa and Aerith just smiled at each other as their friend danced around the carriage. "They're never gonna get us this way!"

The little native guffawed with laughter and clapped her hands. "Shh Yuffie!" Aerith chided her, "We'll be found out if you keep acting like a little girl!"

The girls were all clad in trousers, chaps, shirts and big bushy moustaches. It was their plan to go as cattle-hands and 'check' the cattle in their compartments. Yuffie scratched at her neck under the big bristly beard she had on. "How do men live under these bog-brushes?" I'm itching all down me front now. And how come you two don't have to wear beards?!"

"Because," Tifa explained, "You look like a Wutian. We don't. The beard is so no one else knows who you are."

"Still," Yuffie huffed, scratching viciously at her itchy neck, "I don't like it. And I don't see why I should be the _only_ one..."

"Would you wear it if you didn't have to?"

"No."

"Well there you are then."

"Tifa come look at this!"

Aerith was waving to them both from where she was stood, looking through the slats of the carriage wall. When Tifa came over to inspect, she found they could see a man by the links between the trains. He was testing the pin between them and seemed to be a bit disappointed by the level of rust that coated it. He looked back over his shoulder and called "Are you two lovebirds going to take a look at this or am I going to end up doing all the work yet again?"

Tifa was beginning to lose interest and was just about to turn to tell Yuffie off for making a mess of the cattle feed when Aerith yanked on her arm and hissed excitedly "There he is, there he is!"

"Huh? Who?" Tifa asked, angling her head to get a better look at the two men who had walked over to stand beside him.

"There!" Aerith pointed to the taller of the two newbies and breathed "Zack Fair!"

Tifa nodded, raising her eyebrows at the sight of the handsome blond beside the apparent Zack Fair. "I take it that's strife then." She mused aloud, "So who's the other guy?"

Aerith looked at her aghast. "You mean _you don't know!?"_

Tifa shook her head, should she know? "That," Aerith said, smiling like a love-sick neuron "Is Vincent Valentine! Former government official and all round hero! But he was kicked out because he opposed the army's involvement with the Wutian tribes and he even tried to have an unsigned law passed protecting the tribes from Weiss's men!

"Now he roams the west rescuing maidens in distress and fighting gallantly against the army in his quest for salvation!"

Aerith had both hands over her heart and had fallen against Tifa dramatically. She was surprisingly heavy. "Anything I should know about Blondie and his puppy?" Tifa wheezed, struggling to push Aerith onto her own weight.

Aerith was back on her feet in an instant, almost causing Tifa to fall over with the sudden release of pressure. "Oh! Zack Fair," Aerith squeaked, fluttering a hand in front of her own face, "every self-respecting female's dream man and his best friend and partner in crime," she winked, Tifa sighed, "Cloud Strife! Two of the west's most sought after men, deserters of the army and they escaped from jail in an epic battle of wits and cunning! They're practically twins Tifa! Really hot, really bad twins, chasing after little ol' me..."

Tifa nodded, feeling slightly amused with her amateur dramatics. "Aerith, that _is_ rather romanticised. Don't you think you're being a bit, well, fickle?"

"Fickle? Romanticised? Tifa are you hearing yourself?" Aerith hissed, jabbing a finger at the men outside, "They're practically Gods around here! Fast horses, crack-shots, and _devilishly_ good looking! You would have to be _mad_ not to see yourself with _at least _one of them!"

Tifa raised an eyebrow at Aerith's love-struck ademancy. "So you would see yourself with _more_ than one of them?" When Aerith turned a deep shade of pink, she turned to Yuffie, who by this point had made herself a very comfy looking nest in the cow feed, and whispered, "Our sweet little Aerith has turned out to be a bit of a dark horse I think Yuffs. We'll have to watch out for the boys now won't we, poor things won't know what hit 'em."

Aerith stuck her tongue out at the other girls' sniggering and turned back to watching the men inspecting the coupling. "Pfft, she can have Blondie and Vincent, but Hunky's mine..."

* * *

Cloud yawned, "Vincent, I know how to uncouple a train, so can we just look at the locks and be done with it?"

Vincent fixed him with his trademark cold stare and said flatly, "Fine. But when this goes wrong, you're going to be the one explaining to these towns people why."

Then he turned and stalked away, most likely to go groom his beloved horse. Cloud rolled his eyes at Zack who sniggered then moved off down the train. He gave the rusty pin one last apologetic look – it wasn't that he didn't find the thing supremely interesting, but he was sure there was other stuff he could do – and walked the small distance to the carriage door. He slotted his gloved hand between the slats and pulled himself up.

"_Urm, girls?" Yuffie tapped their shoulders. They were busily attaching ammo and loading guns and hadn't been concentrating on the door. "What?" Tifa hissed, not looking up._

"_They're coming in." Despite the bluntness of Yuffie's reply, there was a definite note of worry that had all three pairs of eyes suddenly on the door and the gloved fingers that were poking through. It sounded as though the owner of the fingers was trying to get into the carriage. All three girls held their breath._

"Dammit!" Cloud cursed. This lock was proving harder to pick than he'd thought. He had his dagger jammed into it and was jiggling it about, trying to get into the stitching. It felt as though someone had tampered with it. Locking it from the inside maybe? He cut and pocketed the knife, then put his face to the wall, peering through the slats.

"_He's looking through!" Aerith hissed, sliding backwards away from the door as a pair of electric blue eyes squinted through into the darkness. The other two were already shuffling backwards against the feed, and that gave Aerith an idea. Grabbing them by the shoulders, she pulled them with her into the city of crates and mountains of feed._

Cloud squinted, shielding his eyes from the sun with his hat. It was so damned dark in there. But he could hear something moving around inside and – there! His eyes had adjusted to the darkness just in time for him to see something small disappearing into the shadow of the crates. Was it a foot? He was just about to rip the lock out himself and go in there and grab whoever it was when –

"_Cloudy-poos!"_

_Tifa raised an eyebrow and beside her, Aerith gasped and began waving frantically towards the door, mouthing the words 'it's him', a look on her face of deep pain, although that may have just been the moustache. Was she honestly in love with this guy so much already? The conversation outside continued; "Don't call me that Zacky-kins."_

"_Tsk, what're you doing?"_

"_Trying to get into this carriage."_

"_Why?"_

"_I think there's someone in there. They're making a load of noise and I think I saw a foot."_

_Tifa twitched, a foot? Noisy? They weren't that noisy were they?_

"_Where?"_

"_There. Just where the shadow meets that crate."_

_They all looked to where he had described to find Yuffie's foot sticking out in plain view. She quickly pulled it in, shooting the others apologetic looks._

"_I don't see anything."_

"_They obviously moved it then didn't they!"_

"_You're just seeing things Cloud. It's dark in there."_

"_I'm not seeing things Zack. The foot was there, and now it's not. I'm changing my position to outside this carriage just in case."_

"_Fine, just don't tell Vinnie, or he'll have a go at you for changing the plan."_

_Tifa's heart dropped. She glanced at the others, who were exhibiting equally horrified expressions, and mouthed the word "Shit." They nodded in agreement, then all 3 pairs of eyes turned back to look at the electric blue orbs that were now glaring intensely in their direction. He was going to make this hard for them, and they knew it._


End file.
